Your Pain, Wall Street's Gain

Your 401k may be in freefall, but the recent stock market turmoil is great news for a wide swath of Wall Street. The dynamic is pretty simple: Volatility in financial markets spurs trading volume, which increases volatility. Rinse, repeat, and watch the bonus pool swell.

“If you’re running a desk at a large broker-dealer, this is absolutely a shot in the arm [for] revenue,” said Andy Nybo, principal at Tabb Group, a market research firm. “But it also makes your job of managing risk and running your desk more challenging.”